The instant invention relates to a method of inhibiting cataract formation occasioned by the oxidative cross-linking of proteinaceous material in the lens fiber of the eye of a warm-blooded mammal, including man, by topically applying an effective antioxidant amount of a 2-aryl, aralkyl or cycloalkyl-1,2-benzisoselenazol-3(2H)-one to the eye of said mammal in need of the same.
Cataracts are an especially common eye abnormality which generally occur in older mammals and characteristically result as a consequence of long term oxidative insult to the ocular environment. Such cataracts are sometimes called senile cataracts to distinguish the same from diabetic cataracts which may be occasioned by dulcitol accumulation in the lens. While a galactose free diet may inhibit or even reverse the cataractous changes associated with diabetes, senile cataracts cannot be so treated by diet modification. In senile type cataracts, cloudiness or opacity of the eye lens is generally occasioned by oxidative cross-linking of ocular proteinaceous material in the lens fiber.
The compounds useful in the practice of this invention belong to a known class of compounds which are disclosed as having anti-inflammatory properties, as see U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,352,799; 4,397,858; 4,418,069; and 4,454,068.
However, the use of the subject compounds for the purpose of inhibiting cataracts occasioned by oxidative cross-linking of proteinaceous material in the lens fiber of the eye of a mammal, such as classical senile cataracts, has not been described.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide for a method of inhibiting cataract formation occasioned by cross-linking of proteinaceous material in the lens fiber of the eye.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide for a method of halting or retarding the rate cataract formation in mammals predisposed to the condition of senile cataracts by the topical application of such compounds.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide aqueous formulations which are compatable to the ocular environment for use in such methods.
These and other objects of the present inventions are apparent from the following specific disclosures.